Zooheekock

Given the poor language skills of most English-speaking immigrants in Thailand, it's probably not a very good idea.

Given the poor language skills of most English-speaking immigrants in Thailand, it's probably not a very good idea.

Considering that socio-economic factors - like need for security, earning capacity and family responsibility - work both ways for Men and Women

Well that's obviously not true. Women earn less and have less access to wealth (and/or other non-financial resources) everywhere in the world. And at the same time, they nearly always have much greater responsibilities.

I think you may be confusing common patterns in farang-Thai marriages to marriage in Thailand in general.

Among Thais marrying Thais, it is unusual for there to be a very large income gap in either direction. People tend to marry within their own socio-economic class, and it takes quite some persuading to get families to accept otherwise. (not including the "mia noi" phenomena in this...just actual marriages, which in Thailand as elsewhere in Asia are seen as familial alliances).

There are exceptions but they are not the rule. And they are just as likely to involve a wealthier woman as a wealthier man. Among my Thai friends I can off-hand think of several such cases. Took a long time to get the girl's family to consent though.

In my experience, marriages between Thais and foreigners mostly occur within the same socio-economic classes too. The only difference is that working class or lower-middle class men from Europe and the United States are - simply in virtue of where they were born - wealthier than their counterparts in Thailand. As you say, there are exceptions (which almost always involve white men marrying Thai women of lower socio-economic classes than their own) but they're less common than perhaps they seem at first sight.

Thai prices are Thai prices because the cost of living is a lot lower.

They're lower for a variety of reasons but it's obviously not the case that the purchasing power of a construction worker in Buriram and a construction worker in Birmingham are the same. If they were, most of the people who complain about the low quality of Thai workmanship would never have been in a position to experience it.

in my opinion, away from the the tourist rip offs, that central Thailand is more conservative than Essan with the exception of the whore tourist areas.

Interesting research method: using the regional origins of the sex workers you exploit to create an index of social conservatism. Hmm. Have you published yet?

....the difference in culture between the west and Thailand...

There isn't one Thai culture any more than there is one western (or one American) culture so no meaningful comparison can be made.

I am a Jew and the few Thais I do tell I am Jewish do not even know what a Jew is.

Why on earth should they? It's an extreme minority religion which has no bearing whatsoever on the life of all but a tiny handful of Thais. How many people in America or Europe know what a Jain is or what they believe or do?

Ok, so you disapprove of the presence of a group of people you consider to be missionaries and wish to "investigate" their legal status with the intent of removing them.

Have you considered the possibility that these people may have a legitimate reason to be on campus ? The first place you should start your inquiries is with the college administration since it is the college administration that is in charge and responsible for what occurs on its premises and not you....etc....etc....etc......

I'm not interested in discussing either the rights and wrongs of the activities of this particular group or my reaction to them

That sentence seems pretty clear and unambiguous but I'll rephrase it for you: I have precisely zero interest in your laughably asinine advice.

Without wishing to appear rude, I'm not interested in discussing either the rights and wrongs of the activities of this particular group or my reaction to them; I would just like to know what activities are allowed on a missionary visa, though, even in the unlikely event that they tear themselves away from saving heathen souls for long enough to read expat forums, I suspect that the people who know are unlikely to post an answer here.

Fascinating as it would be to discuss Thai politics with people who don't know the most elementary facts about the country's history (Really? You're posting about politics and you don't know what happened in 73 and 76?), my blood pressure is peculiarly sensitive to the presence of ill-educated fascists so, under doctor's orders, I must say goodbye.

Can you please elaborate on what exactly you mean by slaughtering?

For starters, 1973, 1976, 1992 and 2010. Anyone who knows what the word means will agree that those were slaughters.

Read some history.

I do. And regulalry, thanks. That's why I almost never bother with this forum; it's possibly escaped your notice but having an informed opinion and regular posting on this forum are not so much uncomfortable bedfellows as absolute polar opposites.

The Thai army's main responsibility (almost its only significant one) is supressing any threats to the existing power structure. As it has shown time after time after time, it has no qualms whatsoever about slaughtering large numbers of Thai citizens in pursuit of this goal so to the extent that Yingluck threatens the exisitng power structure, she faces the reciprocal threat of (yet another) coup. It's a very simple, straightforward relationship.

In a similar vein, one could probably add 'clueless imbecile', 'witless fool', 'geriatric bellend' and 'uneducated cretin' to the list.

Another one: http://tv.ohozaa.com/live/

There's not a huge amount in English; if you want to read about Thailand, you have to read in Thai but a few English-language places to look for political stuff:

Jai Ungpakorn, though he doesn't seem to write much in English any more.

Andrew Marshall/Zen Journalist

Political Prisoners in Thailand

Asia Provocateur

Bangkok Pundit

New Mandala

Siam Voices

Start by subscribing to The Nation every day and seeing which columnist you like.

I think it would be more honest to suggest one subscribes to The Nation every day and sees how long before one pulls out one's own eyes in a fit of rage.

Never read anything from The Nation or The Bangkok Post. Ever. Under any circumstances. At all. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Or does it not really translate at all?

This.

I know you asked for books but Bhikkhu Bodhi's series of 10 lectures on the basics of Buddhism are pretty good. Some of them pack in an awful lot of information and, if I remember rightly, they're about 90 minutes long so a repeat listening is not a bad idea. They can be downloaded from http://bodhimonastery.org/the-buddhas-teaching-as-it-is.html If you look around that site, you can also find his series on the Majjhima Nikaya.

The saddest part is that everyone mentioned loves nam prik pla tu, goes to temples, says Buddhist prayers, enjoys Songkran and watches the same TV soap operas. What can make people who have so much in common, and who believe in the same spiritual seclusion, hate each other so much? The answer is "politics". How does politics do this? Through relentless, mutual, hateful propaganda that feeds on itself.

And so the fascist agenda gets a public airing yet again, thanks to the almost-openly fascist Nation. Why not just come out of the closet and reprint all the stuff about freezing Thailand with a big 'We-heart-Seh Ai'? Awful, awful, awful stuff. I hope these people pay well because if there is a hell, selling your soul for reproducing poisonous rubbish like this is going to get you sent there.

The air hostess expressed a desire to act violently toward someone whose only crime was having the wrong surname. The air hostess also broke what are very reasonable company rules.

On the other hand, Kanthoop's crime was (and remains - she's an extremely brave young woman) failing to love the King sufficiently - a crime for which she has been pursued mercilessly.

She asserted that a society could be peaceful if everyone respects the law.

Indeed it would. So why was she crying over the failure of the fascists in Pitak Siam?